1. (C) Assistant to the President for Homeland Security andCounterterrorism Frances Fragos Townsend met with PresidentBouteflika for three and a half hours June 18. NSC SeniorDirector for Combating Terrorism Michele Malvesti and DCMaccompanied Townsend. Bouteflika's Counterterrorism AdviserRezzag Bara and a notetaker were also present. This cablereports their discussion of the Western Sahara and relationswith Morocco.

2. (C/NF) Well into the meeting, Bouteflika raised WesternSahara, noting that U.S. visitors always wanted to discuss itwith him. Townsend noted that President Bush had asked bothBouteflika and Moroccan King Mohamed VI to find a way toresolve their differences. Townsend said the Presidentappreciated Bouteflika's role in last summer's release by thePolisario of the remaining 404 Moroccan prisoners, notingthat "this would not have happened without your courage."She asked Bouteflika about his view on fully resolving thisissue. .

3. (C/NF) Bouteflika responded that as the world's biggestpower, the U.S. should respect the decisions of the UN on theWestern Sahara. He recalled that in his first meeting withPresident Bush in 2001, the President had asked him to workfaithfully with James Baker and he had done so. Bouteflikanoted that he had supported the Baker Plan, even though hewould not have done so without President Bush's request.Now, he said, Algeria was "stuck in the middle" with Morocco;"we reject anything they accept and vice versa." Bouteflikacommented that despite this stalemate, he had made twoimportant decisions: the Western Sahara would never be acasus belli for Algeria, and he had made clear to theMoroccans that Algeria had no claims on the Western Sahara'sterritory or resources.

4. (C/NF) Bouteflika asserted that there was no bilateralproblem between Algeria and Morocco. The Moroccans, he wenton, claimed the Western Sahara was an issue between Moroccoand Algeria. "I would solve it if I could," he stated, "butI cannot speak for the Sahrawis." Morocco and the Polisariomust find a solution, and they can do so with American help.Algeria will support any agreement reached by Morocco and thePolisario. But, Bouteflika cautioned, a solution cannot beimposed on the Sahrawis. In that case, Algeria will defendto the end the Sahrawis' right to self-determination.

5. (C/NF) Bouteflika complained that Algeria was in asituation whereby any gesture toward Morocco would be held upby the Moroccan side as the beginning of a process of workingout a settlement bilaterally with Algeria. "So I do not wantto shake the King's hand." However, Bouteflika said he hadrecently met the King's brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, inSeville, where they were both guests of King Juan Carlos.Bouteflika observed that he had found he could have a broaddiscussion with Moulay Rachid. "We joked and chattedcomfortably," Bouteflika commented, "but I cannot do thiswith the King, we do not have the same sense of humor!" Headded that he could also joke with the King's late father,King Hassan II. King Mohamed, however, "is not open, and helacks experience." In a rare moment of self-criticism,Bouteflika said he had found his own weak point: he believedothers should resolve problems through dialogue, but he didnot believe in dialogue for himself with Mohamed VI.

6. (C/NF) Townsend said the Western Sahara continued to be amatter of great interest to President Bush. She added thatthe lack of a settlement was impeding regional cooperation oncounterterrorism and preventing the Maghreb from achievingthe level of economic relations that it should enjoy.Bouteflika suggested that James Baker would be a good sourceof advice to the President, he was a man of "exceptionalqualities." It was a "shame Baker quit," Bouteflikacommented. He then wondered whether the President mightconvince Baker to resume his previous role. Bouteflikaconcluded that offering concessions to Morocco would betantamount to "giving a bonus to the most undisciplinedstudent in the class." The U.S. "should not award Morocco'sbad behavior."